Probably consumed by the mountain of work ahead of them, they hiccuped when posting the dates on their website by dating the gigs in 2022 instead of 2023. So, bare that in mind if checking for their assigned days on their page.

Picking up again on the 24th of March, the band will be flying off to carry out another 22 gigs in Australian, New Zealand and US soil. A lot of Canadians weren’t too happy with the new dates. They were expecting to be granted a visit from the British rock twisters and have expressed their dismay via Black Midi’s social media.

From the 24th to the 26th March the band will be visiting Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand, of which one of them is already sold out. Following after this, from the 28th March to the 2nd April they will be playing in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth in Australia, already partly sold out.

Trailing after, they will be making their way to the US on the 8th of June to play in 15 different American cities. Starting off in Philadelphia and finishing off in Boston on the 8th of July, 2023. Once finished in the US they will round up the tour by an added three gigs in the UK playing at Latitude Festival on the 23rd July, We Out Here Festival on the 11th August, All Points East on the 25th August and a, fairly random, gig in Spain, Torremolinos on the 24th August.

The band’s last LP release was their third studio album Hellfire in 2022. Ever since their debut album Schlagenheim in 2019, the band have not been short of representing their untiring hell. Through stories and hellbound characters they manage to siv their way around humanity’s nastiest aspects in existence. Playing around with math rock delusions and experimental post-rock madness the band dedicated their songwriting to be almost unplayable live.

Their latest release, however, was Live Fire. An only physically distributed album of their live performance in Primavera Sound, Porto. They interpret Hellfire through a more loosened and cheeky manner compared to the studio recordings. The texture given to the workpiece if a unique feel.

Tickets for all their coming live gigs went live on Friday, 3rd of March.

Click here for tickets.

UK Tour Dates:

23/07/2023 – Latitude Festival – Suffolk
11/08 – We Out Here Festival – Dorset
25/08 – All Points East – London

This time around, the song was written by the band’s bassist, Cameron Picton. In a press release, Picton commented on the song’s purpose and background – “The story starts in the desert with two men engaged in a desperate search for missing friends,” adding, “Their quest leads them to a strange mining facility which, despite a dearth of natural resources in the area, opens its doors for even stranger hosts to welcome them.”

“That evening, with zero sign of their friends, a massive feast is laid on by the mine’s cantankerous Captain, who performs a long speech encouraging all to indulge as this is to be the workers’ last night before returning to their families. With good reason for suspicion, the protagonists feign gluttony and consume as little as humanly possible.”

“Unfortunately, as they later find, even that’s not quite enough. Night falls, they hide and as the workers fall comatose, the wardens, overseen by the Captain, make preparations to pump their poisoned stomachs. It turns out the purpose of the mine is to procure an excess of human stomach acid used in the production of a bastardised blood-red wine, sold and loved in the region.”

“After the wider conspiracy is revealed and upon realising their friends must be long gone, the partners decide they must destroy the facility. A spanner plugs the works however, as one of the men experiences mild effects of the poison and the production of acid in his stomach goes into overdrive. As his chest literally bubbles he says what may be his final goodbyes to his partner and the other man is left to do the heavy lifting alone.”

“He succeeds and as they flee, arm in arm, the demon Captain erupts from the burning embers and curses the two men to the hell of crippling acid reflux for the rest of their days. They see no reason to worry though, as they’re sure to return home hailed as heroes.”

Surprisingly enough, the totally obtuse aesthetic of the song, its inspiration, and its story… is very much in character. Just as the band’s tendency to keep expanding their currently in progress UK and EU tour. The band were set to have an appearance at London’s Somerset House to be their last in the UK for the tour. But now additional dates in October and November mean that you may still have a chance to catch the group before they presumably embark on the tour for their net album… It’s going to be a busy year. This is also ignoring all of their appearances alongside Black Country, New Road in the states. You can find full ticket information here.

Also very pleased to announce new UK+EU tour dates later in the year pic.twitter.com/m6e72vQBzv

— black midi (@bmblackmidi) June 15, 2022

See below, the full list of black midi’s UK tour dates:

13/7/22 – Somerset House – London
28/10 – Invisible Wind Factory – Liverpool
29/10 – NX – Newcastle
14/11 – Old Fruitmarket – Glasgow
16/11 – SWX – Bristol

According to a press release, the central theme of the album is that of “a shell shocked soldier’s excess and military discharge,” then moving on to say, “if ‘Cavalcade’ was a drama, ‘Hellfire’ is like an epic action film [that] delves into overlapping themes of pain, loss and anguish.” The band are leaning quite heavily into the concept album approach this time round, each of the songs is written in the 3^rd person and “tell the tales of morally suspect characters. There are direct dramatic monologues, flamboyantly appealing to our degraded sense of right and wrong. You’re never quite sure whether to laugh at or be horrified.”

The band’s lead, Geordie Greep, went on to explain “Almost everyone depicted is a kind of scumbag,” Greep continues. “Almost everything I write is from a true thing, something I experienced and exaggerated and wrote down. I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs, I’ve always loved movies and anything else with a depiction of Hell. Dante’s Inferno. When Homer goes to Hell in The Simpsons. There’s a robot Hell in Futurama. Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Jewish writer who portrays a Satan interfering in people’s lives. There’s loads!”. With this statement and the hype behind the lead single, it’s clear to see that the band are sticking with their signature brand of post-punk maximalism. You can look into pre-order options here.

‘Hellfire’ our Third Album for @roughtraderecords is out July 15 – Produced by Marta Salogni, Co-Produced by Max ‘Sizzle’ Goulding and Engineered by Dani Bennett Spragg. Artwork by David Rudnick, Emiel Penninckx and Maharani Yasmine Putri.
Preorder here: https://t.co/Ny3e4EbNs2 pic.twitter.com/NOZmPcNoLK

— black midi (@bmblackmidi) May 9, 2022

The announcement also came with an update to the band’s world tour, but none of the dates actually landed in the UK. So for the time being you’ll have to make do with their only UK date at the moment. Featuring alongside John Legend, Squid, Arlo Parks and many others at Somerset House’s Summer Series in London. The 10-day festival will see each night headlined by some of the biggest names in music at the moment, all within the historic walls of Somerset House. Tickets can be found here.